


You Can't Go Home Again

by TastesLikeRain



Category: Rick and Morty
Genre: Bottom Morty Smith, Bottom Rick Sanchez (Rick and Morty), Bratty Morty, Consensual Underage Sex, Established Relationship, First Time, Jealous Rick Sanchez (Rick and Morty), M/M, Possessive Rick Sanchez, Praise Kink, Rick is a bit softer in this but he's... still Rick lol, Rimming, think the Promortyus Rick who still says rude shit but also has fun with Morty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:27:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24273538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TastesLikeRain/pseuds/TastesLikeRain
Summary: Morty is leaving for college. He should be happy, but all he can think about is how, after three years of sleeping together, Rick chose to end it with him. It doesn't make sense. Rick isRick.He should be doing everything he can to keep Morty from leaving. Maybe it's time for Morty to test the waters...(Aka "the one where Morty comes home with a boyfriend just to bait Rick into reminding him who he belongs to")
Relationships: Rick Sanchez/Morty Smith
Comments: 37
Kudos: 263





	1. Goodbye

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, friends. :) I've been enjoying the fuck of this fandom, and I couldn't help writing something for this pairing because they won't leave my brain. I hope you enjoy it! Kudos and comments give me life. <3
> 
> There's a lot of smut in a few different flavors: sad, feelsy smut, first time smut, angry makeup smut. What can I say? I wanted as many different permutations of fucking for these two as I could manage in one short fic lol.

“I don’t k-know why we’re cele-UURRPP-brating this anyway. College isn’t anything special. It’s not an achievement. It’s a bunch of little boxes gathered together to house worker bees while a bunch of equally sad but bigger insects train them to be good l-little mindless drones for society. It takes tumors of idiocy and metastasizes them into bigger, more cancerous growths for the good of capitalism. It’s a death knell for individuality and original thinking.” Rick waved his fork around as he spewed out his usual vitriolic diatribe.

“Hey! My college years were some of the best of my life!” Jerry piped up defensively.

“I rest my case.” Rick narrowed his eyes, and Jerry shrank into himself. “Do you want to turn out like that w-waste of sentience, Morty?”

“Dad, if you’re going to be like this, you can go back to the garage. This is Morty’s last night before he goes off to school, and I’m not going to sit here and let you belittle his accomplishments.” Beth crossed her arms and gave Rick a stern look. 

Normally, Morty would have been proud of her. In the past couple of years, she’d grown leaps and bounds. Her boundaries with her father (and everyone else, for that matter) were much healthier these days; she wasn’t the same insecure little girl scared to make a sudden move that would drive Rick away. 

But tonight, Morty wasn’t happy about it. He wasn’t happy about anything at all because he knew why Rick was lashing out.

He knew, but it was lonely, bittersweet knowledge he was just going to have to sit with. It wasn’t like there was anyone he could talk to about it.

Morty pushed his plate away (Beth had made his favorite meal—spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread, simple but comforting) and stood up.

“Morty? Are you okay? Don’t leave because of something he said—”

“No no, it’s fine, Mom. It’s not that, i-it’s just—nerves I guess? Not that hungry tonight.” Morty rubbed the back of his neck and caught Rick’s eye. They both looked away as quickly as possible, and Morty started to break out in a sweat, wondering if anyone had noticed.

“I understand, sweetie. It’s a lot of change, but you’re going to do just fine.” His mother smiled at him, and even through the whirlwind of anxiety snaking its way through his brain, it calmed him a bit. 

“Oh yeah, soooo much change. Moving like—an eighty minute drive away,” Summer said with a roll of her eyes. She’d been home since the school year ended, and while it had been nice to see her at first, the novelty of being reunited had slowly worn off until they both reverted back to their old combative sibling patterns.

“Summer! God, can anyone in this family behave tonight?!” Beth threw up her arms, and Jerry rubbed her shoulder reassuringly.

“It’s fine! We’re all just… t-tired or something.” Morty shrugged and walked out of the room as fast as he could, taking a deep breath when he finally got to his room and shut the door behind him. He thought of Rick’s sour mood of the past few weeks, the way they’d been edgy and tense around one another… it made Morty’s chest feel tight and his eyes well up.

He thought of Rick’s lips on his, the way Rick’s cock felt in his mouth and— 

A knock on the door jolted Morty out of his daydreams.

“H-hey, it’s me. Your mom chewed me a new asshole when you left the table and basically ordered me to apologize, and i-it’s not like I give a shit but… just open up?”

Morty swept a hand through his hair and took a second to collect himself before opening the door. When Rick stepped inside, they both just stood around awkwardly, shifting their weight from foot to foot, eyes darting from one corner of the room to another, looking anywhere but at each other.

“Soooo… tomorrow’s the big day, huh?” Rick asked, his voice straining from the effort to keep the disdain out of his tone.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Well, like Summer said, you’re only an hour or so away which isn’t shit when you think about how far and wide we’ve traveled. I-It’s not like you can’t come back any-UURRPP-time you want.” The hopeful note in Rick’s voice made Morty’s heart soar and sink all at once.

“Except we agreed not to do that.”

_Because you told me you didn’t want to anymore. Because you broke my heart and told me I’d be better off without you._

Morty left those thoughts unspoken. He didn’t want to go down that road again. Not tonight. 

“Y-yeah, I guess we did.” Rick’s eyes turned melancholy for a fraction of a second before he put the emotional mask back into place, and Morty couldn’t take it anymore. He grabbed Rick by the collar of his lab coat and pushed him against the door, sealing their mouths and pressing his body against Rick’s. Rick stiffened for a moment before relaxing into it with a sigh, one hand finding its way into Morty’s hair, the other resting in the small of his back just the way Morty liked. It always made him feel protected and grounded when Rick did that. 

God, he’d missed this. How long had it been? Two, three weeks? They’d both been avoiding each other as though that would make the transition easier, ripping off the band-aid early to avoid an old wound spilling new blood, but for Morty, it’d only made everything that much more painful.

He’d been positively aching for Rick’s touch, had felt so goddamn cold and alone without it. They should have been spending these last few weeks getting their fill, saving up in the hope that the memories might sustain them when they were apart. 

Although Rick didn’t say it, Morty was pretty sure he felt the same way. He could feel Rick’s desperation in the way he groaned and sucked on Morty’s bottom lip, hauling him closer and grinding against him, both his hands on Morty’s ass, his tongue teasing against Morty’s own. They broke apart as they heard the muffled sounds of their family talking in another room. Rick pulled a small device out of his lab coat pocket, and, with the click of one button, a flash of green light made its way over the entire room in an iridescent wave and then it was gone, locking the door and sealing the sound in.

They didn’t use it too often because they tried not to do this here. They _tried_ , but… well, things happened enough times, a heat of the moment fuck turning into an extremely close call, that the risk started to become clear and so Rick had started carrying that little square device with him.

It made Morty happy to see that he was still carrying it around. Maybe he’d been waiting for this to happen again, wishing for it every bit as fervently as Morty had.

Rick shucked off his lab coat and his shirt, and Morty followed suit, both of them undressing in a hurry, pressing their naked bodies together like their lives depended on this contact, on feeling all of this one last time, and well… Morty supposed that was true.

They fell back onto the bed, Rick on top of Morty, Morty’s legs wrapped around his waist as Rick nibbled on his neck, his hands running up and down Morty’s chest almost manically. It was like he couldn’t decide where he wanted to touch, his jittery fingers eager to reach everything they could. 

Morty opened the nightstand drawer and grabbed the lube. He handed it to Rick, but Rick shook his head and flipped them over until Morty was straddling him.

“You top tonight.”

Morty’s mouth fell open, and Rick rolled his eyes with an exasperated grunt.

“D-don’t read too much into it. What are you? One of those hetero idiots who has to assign dynamics to sexual positions? L-like vulnerability is just about a collection of splayed limbs and where they fucking go? It’s what I want tonight. Can you handle that without giving me that moronic doe-eyed look? I can see your AO3 brain working overtime, and I-I’m not into it, Morty.”

“Yeah yeah, Rick. I get it.” Morty sighed and coated two of his own fingers in lube.

_God forbid anyone make the mistake of assuming you have feelings,_ Morty thought as he rubbed circles around Rick’s hole with the pads of his fingers, moaning softly as he sank them inside, the tight heat like a reassuring hug. Even if Rick wouldn’t say it with words, his body told Morty everything he needed to know. The thing about sex with Rick was that, no matter how stubborn he was, no matter how hard he tried to erect that shield over his feelings, his body did things when they were together. The way his arms tightened around Morty protectively, his eyes going dreamy and soft when they were in the thick of it, the murmured praise he always played off as meaningless dirty talk when it was over, all of it spoke volumes.

“Not that I don’t appreciate your commitment to pointless prep, but I’m old and stretched out and tired and impatient. Just put your cock in my ass and fuck me stupid. I-I wanna be fucked so goddamn hard, I can’t string together a single coherent thought, y-you get me, Morty? Can you manage that or are you too fucking useless to—”

Rick’s rant dissolved into a satisfied moan and a breathy _fuck yeah_ as Morty thrust into him in one rough motion. For a minute, Morty gave him what he wanted, fucking him hard and fast, the slap of flesh against flesh and animalistic grunts filling the air, but once he’d worked Rick into a mindless frenzy, his panting groans unrestrained as he clawed at Morty’s back, he stopped.

He settled into a tortuously slow pace, leaning back to watch his cock slide in and out of Rick’s ass, admiring the fine sheen of sweat on Rick’s skin, the glaze forming over his eyes, the rise and fall of his lean stomach as he caught his breath.

“What the fuck, Morty? I said—”

Morty wrapped a hand around either of Rick’s wrists and pinned them to the bed, leaning over him and continuing to roll his hips in a gradual, languorous pace, enjoying the feel of Rick’s walls squeezing his cock, the restlessness he could sense in Rick’s narrowed eyes and the twitch of his mouth. 

_Good. Let him wait._

Rick turned his head, refusing to meet Morty’s eyes, and Morty let go of one of his wrists, gripping Rick’s chin and forcing Rick to look at him.

“Stop this childish shit, Rick. W-we’re both sad tonight, okay? A-and we know why. Stop pretending. Please? When we’re on our adventures, you’re always making me slow down and look at everything you show me. You’ve been doing that for years. For _years,_ you’ve been in control, and now I-I’m leaving and I want… I want you to look at _this._ At me. Be _here_ with me and don’t try to pretend it doesn’t mean what it does. I’m leaving tomorrow. Just do this for me, please?” 

Rick swallowed audibly, and for a terribly tense moment, Morty thought this would be it. Rick would shake his head and bow out, deciding he’d rather not spend this last night with Morty if it meant he had to admit how much it meant to him. 

But he didn’t leave. He didn’t open his mouth to let out a bunch of profanity-laden protests either. He simply gave Morty a curt nod and swept a gentle hand through Morty’s hair, his fingers moving down to cradle Morty’s cheek. 

Morty closed his eyes and hummed contentedly for a second before opening them again and looking at Rick, pleased to see he was still looking back, even if he was biting his lip in what Morty guessed was some mixture of defiance and unease.

Morty started fucking him again, a bit faster this time, finding a happy medium between the relentless thrusts he’d started out with and the painstakingly slow motions he’d used to get Rick’s attention. They settled into a satisfying rhythm, Morty getting lost in the warm embrace of Rick’s body, the tugging insistence of Rick’s hands on his shoulders.

Now that Rick was looking at him, _really_ looking at him, Morty almost regretted asking for it. The sincerity of it was breaking his heart, making him hyper-conscious of everything he was leaving behind, and he felt the hot sting of tears pricking his eyes. He blinked rapidly, trying to shove those tears back where they belonged, hidden in the recesses of his discontent to be shed later, when he was alone and no longer under Rick’s all-knowing gaze.

“I-I know. It fucking sucks. I’m sorry it can’t be different, Morty, but it just can’t. Don’t think about it, okay? Let’s just enjoy this while we can.” Hearing Rick be so honest and genuine, not a hint of snark in the words as he ran his fingers through Morty’s hair, caught Morty off guard.

Morty nodded and leaned down to kiss Rick, trying to fight off the swarm of anxious thoughts with lips and tongue, fucking into Rick harder now, chasing his orgasm as though it would push away all the bad shit. Rick clutched Morty close, leaving bites all along his neck, the pressure of his teeth artfully straddling the line between pain and pleasure. Rick always got a little harsh like that when he didn’t want to acknowledge how uncomfortably intimate the sex was getting. Morty had slept with him enough times to notice it now. 

“Fuck, now I can’t stop thinking about it either. This is your fault, asshole. I was perfectly fine being an emotionless fuckwad before you showed up, Morty. I-I don’t want you to leave, Morty,” Rick breathed in his ear, his ass pushing down to meet Morty’s thrusts, his hand moving down to fist his own cock. 

“I don’t want to go,” Morty whined, embarrassed by how high-pitched and desperate it sounded.

“Then don’t. Let’s go somewhere, you and me. W-what the fuck else is that piece of shit portal gun for? Wherever you want, M-morty. I’ll take you anywhere. I know I’ve f-fucked us both up, b-but you’re my special boy and I—” 

Rick’s words pushed Morty over the edge, and he came deep inside Rick, deliriously happy for a few seconds, all the ugly, scary truths pushed out to leave only blinding pleasure as he came with Rick’s teeth in his neck, Rick’s ass clenching around his cock as he joined Morty, spurting hot and sticky between their joined bodies. 

“Oooohhh, fuck… Jesus fucking Christ,” Rick sighed as he collapsed backward, covering his eyes with his palm.

Morty gently pulled out, grabbing a towel from the floor to clean them both off. He cuddled against Rick’s side, nestling his head in the crook of Rick’s arm. Rick draped his arm over Morty’s shoulder, drawing him closer, a post-coital position that had become automatic for them. Morty was glad to see that hadn’t changed in the weeks since they’d stopped having sex.

“Why the fuck did we agree to stop doing this early again? Whose dumb ass idea was that? We should have kept fucking until minute zero.”

“Pretty sure it was your idea,” Morty chuckled, smiling as he listened to Rick’s heartbeat, the orgasmic glow painting everything in pretty, fuzzy brushstrokes for the time being.

“Since when do I try to make h-healthy adult decisions? Must’ve been a parasite wriggling in my brain. Remind me to kill myself later.” 

Morty started to laugh but stopped. That sort of joke wasn’t funny. Not right now. Rick was running his fingers up and down Morty’s spine, a soothing gesture that usually relaxed him, but tonight his wheels were still spinning.

“D-did you mean all of those t-things you said? You know… about us going off together?” Morty’s pulse raced as he waited for Rick’s answer, every passing second stretching into an unbearable eternity.

“I say a lot of stupid shit when I’m about to come, Morty. Y-you should know better than to believe it. A man’s b-brain detaches from his fucking skull when his dick is happy. Makes everything come out in moron.”

Morty rolled away from Rick and sat on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands.

“Aw, come on, M-Morty. Don’t be like that. No dramatics tonight, okay? You know what I’m like; this isn’t a surprise. T-to paraphrase one Will Graham: a mutually-unspoken pact to ignore the worst in one another in order to continue enjoying the fucking best. That’s us, and t-to be honest, it’s most every stupid relation-UURRPP-ship between every delusional pair of humans on this planet. E-everyone’s telling lies to each other to make it work. Your parents have been doing it for decades. I’m just more upfront about it than most. W-would you rather I coddle you and pretend to be someone I’m not? Is that what you want?”

Morty chewed on his bottom lip and thought about it. He could spend the rest of the night alone and broody, dwelling on all of the shit he was doing his best to ignore, or he could be with Rick and just accept that, Rick being Rick, he was going to piss Morty off at some points and be disarmingly sweet at others, the oscillation between the two giving Morty emotional whiplash. Still… it was better than being without him. And that was the crux of the whole thing, wasn’t it? Rick was a very “can’t live with him, can’t live without him” kind of person, a cyclone-esque force in Morty’s life that was always shifting and changing the landscape, sometimes for the worse, sometimes for the better. Your best chance of surviving was to hang on tight, say a prayer, and enjoy the ride, hoping for the best.

Morty turned around and looked at Rick. Rick sat up and leaned his back against the wall, patting the spot next to him. With a sigh, Morty crawled back to Rick and wrapped his arms around him. Even a potentially frustrating night with him was better than nothing. 

Tomorrow, Morty would be leaving for college, and then… then it would be over. Morty nuzzled in Rick’s neck and tried not to think about whether or not he’d ever get to do this again.

  
  


***

“Well, this is it, champ.” Jerry held Morty by the shoulders and beamed at him proudly. Morty blushed at the juvenile term of endearment, but it also made him grateful. His dad could be a bumbling idiot, but he also cared a lot and to be honest, even though he really wasn’t going that far away, this milestone was starting to make Morty extra sentimental over every damn thing.

“Y-yeah,” Morty said with a shrug, hugging his dad.

“Try not to screw it up, okay?” Summer said, but there was no bite behind the words. She playfully winked at Morty and gave him a hug.

Morty turned to Rick and suddenly all the air left his lungs. 

After the sex, they’d stayed up all night drinking and watching bad horror movies, yelling at every dumb trope that graced the screen—a silly weekend tradition of theirs that Morty was going to miss—stopping to fool around whenever they felt like it. Morty blushed again, but this time it wasn’t about any embarrassing gestures of affection from his parents. 

Images flashed across his mind: Rick asking Morty to sit on his face, fucking Morty’s ass with his tongue until Morty felt like he might come untouched, Morty bending down to suck Rick’s cock into his mouth, Rick coming with his tongue still buried in Morty’s ass, his come painting Morty’s lips. It’d been a good sendoff. A  _ really _ good sendoff. 

But as usual, Rick had gotten too drunk and started to get vulnerable. A needy, drunk Rick seeking affection from Morty was always a confusing endeavor. On one hand, it was nice to hear these things, the alcohol acting like a truth serum over which Rick had no control. On the other hand, it just served as a hard-hitting reminder of how Rick would feign ignorance in the morning. He needed the booze to dissolve the iron curtain, and Morty hated that sometimes. He wanted Rick to be open without that, and sometimes he got his wish. There were glimpses, but they’d always get patched over with a few insults for good measure. He’d gotten better over the past couple years. He was definitely a far cry from the Rick he’d been when Morty was fourteen and constantly afraid of him, but it was still very “one step forward, two steps back.” 

_ “Tomorrow, we’ll say goodbye out there with everyone, but we both know  _ this _ is the real goodbye. Look I... I’m not great at this shit, Morty, b-but I won’t be my usual insensitive dick self or make jokes, okay? You can say whatever it is you need to say right now. J-just get it all out. I’m here, M-Morty,”  _ Rick had said, giving Morty that unnervingly intense look he always got when he was in the drunk confessional mood. Normally, Morty would have told him to go away. To sober up and talk in the morning, but it was a special night. The last night of its kind. So Morty had taken a gamble.

_ “I-I love you, Rick. I love you, okay? I keep trying not to, b-but it only makes it worse.” _

_ “I love you too, you little shit.” _

_ “I thought you weren’t going to be an asshole?”  _

_ “Yeah, well... I’m only human.”  _ Rick had smiled, and it was sweeter than it had any right to be, his eyes glistening with something Morty didn’t think he was imagining. Although it was always hard to tell when Rick was lying, Rick had never said it like that before. He’d joked but never said it like he  _ really _ meant it. They’d hugged tightly afterward, both getting a little weepy, and while it was easy to blame that on the alcohol, Morty knew better.

“Dad… say goodbye to your grandson.” Beth said it gently but firmly, casting a no-nonsense look Rick’s way. 

Morty couldn’t help the yelp of surprise that left his mouth when Rick unexpectedly scooped him up into a tight hug. 

“I love you, you insufferable little shit.” Rick said it loud enough for everyone to hear, and while they didn’t really know the true weight of those words, it was still thrillingly scandalous to Morty. Last night wasn’t just a drunken fluke, and this was Rick’s way of saying it out in the open, as much as he possibly could without revealing their secret.

“I love you too, you cantankerous asshole,” Morty whispered, swallowing around the lump that was forming in his throat. 

“B-big word from the college man, there. Watch out world, Morty’s c-coming to reinvent the linguistics wheel.” 

“Shut the fuck up,” Morty said with an affectionate smile as they separated, Rick’s hand lingering on his lower back for a few seconds. 

“Aww, one last gay pining moment,” Summer said in a mocking tone, clasping her hands to her chest.

Rick and Morty exchanged glances, and they both burst into uncontrollable laughter while the rest of the family looked on in bafflement. 

“Oooohhh, fuck. I can’t—hahaha. Oh  _ shit! _ ” Rick wiped tears from his eyes, one hand on his thigh as he bent over, trying to catch his breath.

They gave each other one last smile, and it was the best smile of all because Morty knew now. When he was alone, it would probably catch up to him, the realization of how profoundly sad it was to have Rick finally say it when it was too late, but for now, it felt good. 

“God, you two are so fucking weird.” Summer shook her head and went inside. 

Morty and his mother got into the car, all loaded up with Morty’s things and ready to go. Jerry waved as they pulled out of the driveway, but Morty’s eyes were fixed on Rick. He didn’t turn around until Rick was just a shadowy figure in the distance.

“It’s going to be hard on him too. That’s why he’s lashing out. I mean… I know you know that, but I thought you could use a reminder.” Beth gave Morty a mournful smile, and Morty didn’t respond. “You know… I don’t know if my dad has ever been close to someone in quite the way he is with you. I know it’s been… a toxic dynamic in some ways, and I should have done something about that earlier but… he also cares about you a lot. Believe me, I know it’s hard to be sure of that when it comes to Rick, but I think it’s true. He’s going to miss you, Morty.”

“Yeah… I’m going to miss him too,” Morty said softly.


	2. Remember How It Started?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the reason there's an underage warning. The new episodes were clearly an inspiration for this one hehe. (Also, the place he takes Morty for his first time is that planet where Rick had his special toilet.)

_ “Give grandpa a kiss. G-g-gimme—give grandpa a kiss.”  _

That was how it had started. Morty was on the floor and backing away, his face twisted in confusion as Rick crawled toward him.

This was it. This was the moment Morty had secretly wished for, but now that it was happening, his stomach was full of butterflies and he was so nervous, he felt like he was going to vomit.

_ This is it. Just do it. Just do what you want, Morty. He’s telling you to do it. _

Rick puckered up his lips and leaned in, and before he could overthink it, Morty closed the distance between them. It wasn’t as smooth as he would have liked; it ended up being more of a rough, unskilled crash of lips, and when Rick pulled back, his brow knitting together, Morty was sure he’d ruined everything. 

But then Rick’s gaze had traveled back down to Morty’s lips, and Morty raised his hand, gently resting it on Rick’s cheek, asking for permission. He didn’t need to do anything else; that was enough for Rick.

Even now, when Morty thought about that day, he could still feel the pressure of Rick’s hand on the back of his neck as he pulled him in for another kiss, a kiss that left no doubt about what he wanted. He’d pushed Morty down onto the floor, and for a glorious couple of minutes, neither of them worried about getting caught. They just kissed and kissed, tongues exploring every corner of one another’s mouths, finally expelling all of the pent-up desire that had been building for who knows how long. Morty could feel Rick’s erection poking his hip, and he was so warm from the inside out, just fucking feverish and insatiable as he ran his hands up and down Rick’s body, touching like he might never get another chance. Rick was rutting up against him, moaning into Morty’s mouth, and just as he reached for Morty’s zipper, they heard the sound of Summer and Beth coming in from the yard, their chatter and the squeak of the back door making them jump apart so fast Morty banged his head on the edge of the couch.

They both scrambled to take a seat on the couch, strategically leaving a cushion between them and watched interdimensional cable in uncomfortable silence, Morty’s heart beating out of his chest as he stole sidelong glances at his grandpa, searching his inscrutable face for any sort of clue as to what he was thinking.

After that, Rick avoided Morty for a week. No adventures, no wisecracks about Morty’s intelligence, nothing but cold, calculated indifference that crushed Morty’s spirit.

It gave Morty a lot of time to think, and suddenly a pattern emerged—the excuses Rick always found to be naked around him, the way he talked about Morty’s masturbation and his own sex life so casually, Rick’s domineering need to take up Morty’s time—that made him realize how long they’d been leading up to this. Why did finally taking that step make Rick withdrawal?

At night, unable to sleep as he fretted about what would happen, Morty would jerk off to the memory of Rick’s tongue in his mouth, the sensation of Rick’s clothed cock rubbing against his own, calling out his name in the dark and wondering if Rick was doing the same. 

After all, he hadn’t taken the memory from Morty. And if he truly regretted it, if he really wanted both of them to forget it had ever happened, wouldn’t he have done that? Rick had erased countless other memories without Morty’s consent. 

As Morty lay in his bed thinking about all of this one lonely night, the door flew open to reveal Rick on the other side. He shut the door behind him and kneeled on Morty’s bed, drunk and babbling like he had been so many times before. By now, Morty was used to these surprise visits.

“You’re the only one who gets me, l-little buddy. You mean the fucking world to me, Morty. Do you know that?” Rick grabbed Morty by the shoulders, his grip a little too hard, his fingers digging into Morty’s skin. “Do you remember that time? With the Vindicators? You g-guessed the solution to every single one of my traps. Because you  _ know _ me. You know me better than a-anyone else ever has. Fuck, Morty… I can’t stop thinking about it. What would have happened if they hadn’t come in? W-would you have—would we have—”

They stared at each other for a bit, both panting and deciding what to do next, and then Rick kissed Morty, his mouth a little bitter with the taste of vodka, his groan of relief like a tranquilizer entering Morty’s veins. He relaxed for the first time in a week, letting Rick kiss his face and his neck, murmuring about how good it felt, how much he wanted it, how good Morty was being for him. It was hard to resist, but Morty pushed him away. 

Rick looked stricken; Morty couldn’t tell if it was just regret or anger. 

“I-I understand, Morty. I shouldn’t h-have come here. Just fucking forget—” 

“No, that’s not it!” Morty shouted, the volume of it surprising them both. He crossed his arms and took a deep breath. “You’re right, Rick; I do know you, and that’s why I know we can’t do this when you’re blackout drunk. You’ll just blame it on the alcohol tomorrow, and we’ll be back where we started. Y-you’re always doing this! If we’re gonna do this, I want you to  _ want _ to and be able to admit that.” 

“Jesus… when did you get some emotional intelligence? B-been raiding Jerry’s self-help shelf? Self-actualized little prick…” Rick muttered with his head in his hands.

After that, Rick stopped avoiding him. They went back to their old adventure routine, and although Rick was still the curmudgeonly smartass he’d always been, he was a bit more open and thoughtful with Morty. Even though they didn’t talk about That Night, the shift was more than enough for Morty. He waited patiently to see what would happen next, and it wasn’t long until things escalated.

The Glorzo adventure broke the silence. It was pretty hard to avoid the topic after they’d basically indirectly made out through two facehugging alien parasites, and the ride home was full of sly, lustful glances that Summer was oblivious to, typing away on her phone in the back.

When they landed, Summer got out, but Rick and Morty stayed.

“So… the universe kind of p-played a few sick jokes on us with this one,” Rick said with a nervous laugh.

“Y-yeah, a little on the nose, right? I m-mean who’s writing this garbage?” Morty laughed, and the smile Rick flashed made his whole body warm. Morty looked around, making sure no one was out on the lawn, and rested a shaky hand on Rick’s lean thigh. Rick let out a small grunt of surprise, but he laid his hand on top of Morty’s, his long fingers curling around Morty’s palm. He turned Morty’s hand over and started stroking his thumb across Morty’s wrist. Even that small touch made the throb between Morty’s legs unbearable. He looked up and saw a hunger in Rick’s eyes that drove him crazy. He wanted to crawl into his lap right there, but he knew he couldn’t. Rick cleared his throat and looked away.

“You have a birthday coming up. I-I thought maybe we could spend the day together? We can go wherever you want. M-Morty’s choice. All Morty adventure. What do you think?” 

Morty looked at the mischievous gleam in Rick’s eye, a look that normally meant trouble, but it had an entirely different meaning now. 

_ Oh fuck, oh fuck, it’s gonna happen. It’s gonna happen on my birthday.  _

“Y-you pick where we go, Rick. I trust you.” 

  
  


***

  
  


Morty’s birthday was perfect. 

They went to an intergalactic park where you could slide down galaxies like some real life, gigantic Rainbow Road in the sky and to the dimension with the best ice cream (the peace treaty between humans and the telepathic spiders had dissolved ever since a group of rebel spiders had plotted to assassinate the human president, returning the ice cream to its previous fly-less status). There was a stop to Blips and Chitz later in the evening and then finally, Rick took him to one of the most peaceful places Morty had ever been. It looked like an alien, iridescent rainforest; all the plants and wildlife were colored in vibrant shades of pink, green, blue, and purple. Mountains were made of shiny, translucent crystal, and the soothing sounds of strange birds and trickling water surrounded them. The sky was filled with shimmering streaks that reminded Morty of the aurora borealis. It was gorgeous.

They sat down on a blanket in the springy grass, and Morty looked up at the sky. It was fading from an orangey-red to a purplish-blue. He figured it was probably this planet’s sunset. After a while, Morty noticed Rick looking at him out of the corner of his eye. 

“Y-you okay, Rick?”

Rick bit his bottom lip but didn’t say anything. A few minutes passed until he abruptly stood up with a huff.

“I-I don’t know what you want, Morty. I’m not good at this ‘flowers and chocolate give you my lab coat when you’re cold and nuzzle in real close watching the sunset’ type shit. I-is this good? Do you like it? I know it might not seem like it, b-but I do care about how this goes for you. You’re not just some casual fuck. You do know I wanted to have sex tonight, right? I m-made that clear with the whole ‘special evening, your choice’ sappy shit?”

“Y-yeah, I got that, Rick. Are you… you seem like maybe you’re having second thoughts though?”

“Having second thoughts? Having second—Jesus, of course I am! What do you think I am, Morty? Some kind of sociopathic monster? I’m reckless not conscience-less. My moral code might be a-a little more slippery and philosophically twisted than most, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have standards and this is pretty fucked up, even for me.” Rick sat back down and looked Morty in the eye. “Look, Morty... there’s no going back from this. Unless you want me to take the memory away. I can do that if you want. Then you can have your grandpa-fucking cake and eat it too. Poor choice of lazy adage, but you know what I mean. I’m not going to be offended if that’s what you want.” 

“No, I don’t want that. I meant what I said. I want us both to be aware of w-what we’re doing. I want us both to make the choice.”

“You might change your mind. Just because I care about how this goes for you doesn’t mean I-I’m gonna tell you how good you feel and how much I love you and all that shit. This isn’t going to be some shitty romance novel sex where we come simultaneously and our souls merge and e-everyone’s seeing stars or whatever.” 

“Shut the fuck up, Rick.” Morty kissed him, and it wasn’t long before they were both naked, the fantasy no longer an abstract concept in Morty’s mind. He’d seen Rick naked plenty of times before, but this was completely different. With Rick above him, his elbows braced on either side of Morty’s chest, the sparkling sky behind him, Morty thought that Rick was wrong—this was about as romance novel as it could get. Everything was perfect.

“I-I really like your body,” Morty whispered, running his hand down Rick’s chest and blushing as he braced himself for a sardonic retort. 

“Of course you do,” Rick said. Same cocky bastard Morty knew and loved.

Rick’s voice was irresistibly husky and dirty in Morty’s ear. Morty shivered as Rick sucked on his earlobe, lightly pinching one of Morty’s nipples. Rick rolled them onto their sides, putting a little space between them so Morty could get the full view. His gaze immediately went to Rick’s cock, hard and flushed and resting against his slim stomach. Morty wanted to lick along the length of it, but he was too scared of being terrible at it and didn’t think he could take Rick’s commentary. Rick’s insults could really cut to the quick. He was good at sussing out a person’s insecurities and zeroing in on them with laser accuracy. 

“My eyes are up here, Morty,” Rick said with a smile so dirty, it made Morty’s cock twitch. “Y-you know you can touch it, right?”

Morty let out a shaky exhale and wrapped his hand around Rick’s cock, pumping up and down a few times.

“Th-that’s it. Don’t be nervous, Morty. Just pretend you’re touching yourself. Touch it like you’d touch your own dick.” Rick rubbed his thumb across Morty’s lips, and Morty instinctively sucked on it, the answering groan from Rick making him feel a little less nervous. His hand sped up on Rick’s cock, his movements getting less clumsy and hesitant. It felt so good in his hand, thick and hot and heavy, little drops of pre-come slicking the head. “F-fuck, you want this so much, don’t you? You’re desperate for it.”

Morty nodded. Rick chuckled, but it wasn’t a mocking sound. It was… appreciative. Happy. When Rick finally touched Morty’s cock, their knuckles bumping together as they jerked each other off, Morty whined, a mortifying, helpless sound Rick muffled with his mouth, pulling Morty’s hair at the root, tipping his head back and covering his neck with kisses. Rick really seemed to like his neck, and Morty wasn’t complaining. The heat started to build in Morty’s groin, his balls drawn up tight, and he pushed at Rick’s chest.

“U-um, are we going to…” Morty couldn’t bring himself to say it.

“W-what, Morty? If you want something, you have to ask for it.” Rick’s smile turned evil, and he licked his lips as he watched Morty writhe and moan. “I-I have to admit, you look… fuck, you look goddamn amazing right now, baby.”

Hearing Rick call him baby made him melt, his orgasm climbing ever closer, but he didn’t want to come. Not yet.

“I… I want…”

“Okay, I’ll take pity on you just this once. You want my cock inside you, Morty? You want me to fuck you out here? Make you t-take it and fill you with my come? Is that what you’re asking for?”

Morty nodded shyly, curling his hand around Rick’s shoulder. Rick guided him onto his back and lifted his legs, pushing them toward Morty’s chest. Morty didn’t know what would happen next. His heartbeat caught in his throat as he braced himself for pain, but instead he felt the warm wet swipe of Rick’s tongue across his hole, Rick’s hands squeezing his ass.

“O-Oh geez, Rick, th-that’s—” Morty moaned as Rick’s tongue plunged inside and back out again, licking up and down for a few strokes before pushing back inside him. Morty ran his hands through Rick’s hair and looked down, feeling like he might faint from the sight of Rick between his legs, licking and sucking on him like he loved it, his eyes closed as he made pleased little hums.

“Y-you have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do this,” Rick gasped as he started kissing his way up Morty’s body, lingering on each of his nipples, flicking them with the tip of his tongue. 

“How l-long?” Morty asked, running his hands down Rick’s back.

“Too fucking long,” Rick whispered, looming above Morty, his face shaded in darkness. The shimmering streams of light were still in the sky, but it was much darker now. “S-still sure about this?”

“Definitely.” Morty hoped he sounded self-assured.

Rick regarded him for a second and then nodded, but Morty noticed his arms were shaking. Was he nervous too? Did Rick even  _ get _ nervous? Rick grabbed something from behind Morty’s head and sat back on his heels. Morty saw it was a tube of some kind, and as if reading Morty’s thoughts, Rick said, “my own special blend” as he coated his cock in lube.

Rick spread Morty’s legs a little more and knelt between them, looking back up at him before he went any further.

“Let me know if anything hurts. And i-if you want to stop, we stop. D-don’t worry about upsetting me, okay?” 

Even in the brief glimpses of affection from Rick, he was never quite  _ this _ considerate. It was doing funny things to Morty’s brain, attachments and connections forming that, even in his lust-filled haze, he knew were a slippery slope to slide down. Still, he couldn’t help it. The beauty of this odd planet, Rick’s unusually sincere face, the persistent arousal that flooded his whole body, screaming for this and only this—it didn’t matter how stupid of an idea it was. Morty needed it.

Rick slowly pushed in, and it burned a little. Morty was a horny teenager who masturbated nearly constantly so it wasn’t like he hadn’t experimented with fingers and dildos. When you jerked off that much, you were bound to get creative, and when you traveled the universe with Rick and saw all the crazy, kinky ways people expressed their sexuality, that creativity tended to expand tenfold. But this was different. Rick was bigger, and Morty unintentionally tensed up, his nerves getting the better of him.

“Relax. I-it goes a lot better if you do. Trust me.” 

“Mmm-hmm,” Morty responded, taking a couple steadying breaths.

“Thhaatt’ss it. Aaaahhh,  _ fuck _ that feels good.” Rick slid the rest of the way in, and the low rumble of his voice made Morty relax even more, his focus drifting away from anxiety and towards Rick. “G-god, you’re so fucking tight. I can’t believe we’re finally doing this.” Rick leaned forward and kissed Morty, starting to thrust in and out. “Do you like my cock inside you? You like getting fucked, Morty?”

“Ah, i-it’s—o-oh, Rick, I think I love it.” With every thrust, it felt better and better, the discomfort subsiding as his body adjusted, leaving only the tingling warmth that was building every time Rick’s cock brushed against that perfect spot inside him. 

“I knew you would. That cute little ass was made to get fucked. You feel s-so fucking good, Morty. You’re my good little boy, aren’t you?” Rick kept covering his face with kisses, fucking him harder and faster, bending Morty’s legs back into he was nearly folded in half.

“Y-yes,  _ fuck. _ Yes, I’m your good boy.” Morty couldn’t believe what was tumbling out of his mouth nor did he want to think about how much it turned him on to hear Rick say that.

“You’re mine, Morty. Only mine, you understand? No one else gets to touch you. No one else gets to fuck you. Your ass belongs to me.  _ All _ of you.”

“Oh god, I want that. Y-you have no idea—Rick— _ please.” _

“Oh yeah? Want to be my personal slut, Morty? You aching for my cock to fill you? Use your hole whenever I want it?”

“G-geez, Rick. Please keep talking to me. I-it’s so—I really like it.”

“I knew you’d be like this. I see the way you look at me, Morty. You’re not th-that fucking subtle. We’re gonna have so much fun, Morty. You have no idea. I-I’m gonna make you feel so good.”

“Mmmm, you already do. R-Rick, I—will you touch my dick?”

“See? Not so hard to ask for what you want. Good boy,” Rick purred, sucking on a nipple as he reached down and started to fist Morty’s cock. Morty’s eyes rolled back into his head, his nails digging into Rick’s back. It was all too much—Rick’s mouth, his hand coaxing Morty closer, his cock drilling inside him, their bodies sliding together. 

Morty spurted all over Rick’s hand, moaning Rick’s name, and Rick kept fucking him through it. As he came down, he was over-sensitive, every thrust Rick made hurting just a little, but somehow he didn’t mind. He liked lying there underneath Rick, euphorically wrung out and used, watching the roll of Rick’s hips, feeling Rick’s panting breath on his skin. 

When Rick came, Morty could feel his cock twitching inside him, and Rick’s arms tightened around him. Morty felt so safe at that moment, his nose buried in Rick’s neck, Rick’s cock beginning to soften inside him. When they separated, he felt a little bereft, but then Rick pulled him close.

“C’mere, Morty. L-let that afterglow wash over you. Fuck… I take back what I said about the trite Hallmark window-dressing. This is kinda nice, Morty. Just look at that sky.”

“Y-yeah, it is nice.” Morty closed his eyes. He didn’t really need the fancy sky. He was just happy to feel Rick underneath him. He felt small and safe and home.

After that night, they snuck off every chance they got. Sometimes Rick was gentle, and sometimes he reminded Morty who he belonged to, fucking him boneless after an argument, commanding whispers in his ear, not letting Morty come until he said so. Morty liked both. Morty liked it all.


	3. Who Do You Belong To?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaanndd, here it is. The whole impetus for this fic. It was originally just supposed to be this Thanksgiving scene, but well... it spiraled because I wanted "sad night before leaving" sex and "emotional first time" sex for these two haha.

“I’m so nervous. What if they hate me?” Sebastian turned the steering wheel, and the car idled onto Morty’s street.

“T-they won’t. My grandpa is… difficult, but he’s really the only one you have to worry about.” Morty laughed nervously. It’d been almost four months since he’d been home. He was going back for Thanksgiving break and so much had changed. Everything about Morty that had made high school miserable was an asset in college. It was the most bizarre, unexpected 180, and Sebastian was proof of that. 

He actually  _ liked _ Morty’s awkwardness, his slight frame, his sensitivity, his tendency to get easily flustered and emotional. He thought all of those things were adorable, and well… when Morty had met him the first week of school, he’d latched onto that. Morty was lonely and unsure of himself, constantly afraid of making bad impressions at every party and new class, and, if he was being honest, he was missing Rick so fucking much, it felt like acid eating him from the inside out.

Rick hadn’t called. He hadn’t responded to any of Morty’s desperate late night texts, texts he always wished he could go back in time and unsend. Even though they’d agreed to stop seeing each other, Morty hadn’t expected total radio silence. It was tearing him apart. 

So when Sebastian showed up, handsome and smart and so easy to talk to, Morty let it happen. Maybe if he fucked someone else enough, he’d forget about Rick. 

Unfortunately, it didn’t work like that. Being with someone else only made Morty feel worse, and he found that every good thing about Sebastian annoyed him. All it did was remind him of how much he missed even the ugliest parts of Rick. Their fights and Rick’s manipulation, his egotistical need to go to great lengths just to prove he’s right, his possessiveness. Being in a relationship that didn’t contain all of these fucked up dynamics should have Morty happy, but all it did was bore him to tears. He felt like an asshole for roping Sebastian into this, but it had to be done.

As they walked up to the door, Morty felt a warm, tingly, smug feeling tickling the back of his neck, something he hadn’t felt in far too long. No matter how this went, it was good to feel that again.

“Morty!” Beth hugged him tightly. “We’ve missed you.”

“Even me,” Summer said with an eyeroll as she hauled him in for a hug.

“Come here,” Jerry said, and Morty looked over his shoulder as they hugged, scanning the living room for any signs of Rick.

Beth was chatting with Sebastian, telling him how glad she was to meet him, how much they’d all heard about him, blah blah blah, all the boring bullshit spiel Morty had been banking on. Morty walked into the kitchen, leaving them all to interrogate Sebastian and pretend to be a picture perfect family welcoming him to their home for a holiday, and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Rick leaning on the counter, his mouth tight-lipped and his eyes full of fury.

“I-I knew when your mom said his name was Sebastian that he w-was gonna be some off-brand Timothée Chalamet faux-Euro trash motherfucker,” Rick said as he opened his flask and took two hefty swigs. “What’s he majoring in? Cable knit sweaters and boating shoes with a minor concentration in semiotics and being a pretentious pain in the ass? How many times a day does he work ‘post-modern’ into conversation? Please don’t tell me he abbreviates it to ‘po-mo.’”

“Fuck you, Rick.” Morty glared and stepped into Rick’s space, both hating and loving how good it felt to be this close to him again.

“Oh god, he does, doesn’t he? What do y-you sit around in his twin bed jerking each other off while Kate Bush plays in the background and he recites R-Richard Siken?”

“At least he—” 

“Hey, everything okay?” Morty felt a slim arm snaking around his waist and turned to see bright blue eyes and cheekbones that could cut glass. With an evil smile, Morty kissed Sebastian hard and deep, smiling wider when he heard Rick’s angry huff.

“You conniving little piece of fuck,” Rick spat out.

“What did you just say to him?” Sebastian asked, his mouth open wide in shock.

“D-don’t worry about it, Elio Perlman. This doesn’t concern you. You’re n-not important to anyone in this room.” Rick crossed his arms and stared right at Morty. Morty didn’t look away; he just kept smiling.

“Excuse m—” 

Beth called everyone to the dining room to eat, and Morty followed behind Sebastian, turning around to wink at Rick. Rick balled up his fists and mouthed _ “you’re a piece of shit.” _

Morty felt triumphant as he sat down. This was working even better than he’d imagined. He barely had to do anything at all. 

Rick took a seat across from him, and Morty gave Sebastian a quick kiss on the cheek, trying not to smirk when Rick took another few gulps from his flask.

“W-we’re all just gonna ignore  _ this?” _ Rick made a disgusted face and waved in Sebastian’s direction.

“Really, Dad? Didn’t figure you for a homophobe, considering everything you’ve done up and down every dimension.” Beth put a hand to her forehead with a beleaguered sigh. 

“Th-that’s not what this is about! Jesus! Give me s-some credit.” Rick slammed his fist on the table, and Sebastian jumped.

“Then what the hell  _ is _ it about, Grandpa Rick?” Summer glowered at him with crossed arms. “Sorry Morty’s not around to be your plaything and do whatever you want anymore, but maybe don’t throw a shit fit about it right now.”

“I-I’m not—this isn’t—M-Morty fucking  _ knows _ what this is about, and that’s all that matters. Fuck all of you!” Rick got up from the table and stormed off.

“I-I’ll be right back,” Morty said to Sebastian as an argument erupted between Jerry and Beth, the same circular fight they’d been having about Rick ever since he’d first come to live with them.

“Morty, I feel like I missed something huge. What’s going on?”

“I’ll tell you later, okay? I j-just have to talk to Rick for a minute.” Morty felt a stab of guilt as he looked at Sebastian’s puzzled expression, but he shoved that feeling down and jogged to the garage.

“Come to gloat, Morty? I-I don’t have time for your shit right now.” Rick didn’t look up from his workbench. He was furiously tinkering and welding and mixing compounds, and Morty wondered if it was actually in the pursuit of anything in particular or if he was just doing it out of a need to keep his angry hands busy.

“I want you to admit it, Rick. You missed me, and you wish I’d never left.” Morty walked over and stood behind Rick, watching the shift of his shoulders as he took a deep breath.

“Seriously, Morty? You got a boyfriend and b-brought him home just to make me jealous? What is this, a fucking Nora Ephron scipt? What d-do you want, Morty?” Rick stood up and faced Morty, leaning over him as his voice climbed in volume. Morty had grown a few inches in the past couple of years, but Rick still towered over him. “Y-you want me to tell you that I went on some Bella Swan bender when you left and brooded by a window for months? Or that I fucked e-everything that moved except it made me more miserable so then I took as many drugs as I could, but it turns out being numb doesn’t work anymore because you fucking ruined me?! You left me, Morty! I told you I loved you, and I  _ meant _ it. I’m Rick Sanchez; I don’t say shit like that.”

“You told me to go!” Morty threw his hands up in the air. What the fuck was wrong with Rick? Why did he always have to be running a masterclass in mixed signals? Had he cut Morty loose in hopes that he’d come crawling back? Was that what all of this had been about? One of those loyalty tests Rick was so goddamn fond of?

“Well, I-I guess I’m a fucking idiot. And since when do you ever listen to me anyway?” Rick muttered, looking at the ground. 

“I thought you were the smartest man in the universe,” Morty said, his words spiked with barbed edges.

“Yeah, I am, and you of all people know what a fucking idiot that makes me when it comes to… shit like this.” Rick gestured vaguely to the two of them. “I was trying to do the right thing! I spent years manipulating you to get what I wanted; I thought it was time to let you have your own life.” 

“If you love something set it free?” Morty cracked a smile at that. Even in the middle of them yelling at each other, there was something victorious about knowing he’d bested Rick Sanchez, thwarting his natural instinct toward selfishness. Then again, it’d been that way for years, even if Rick didn’t want to admit it. Rick’s whole world revolved around Morty, even when he was being cruel to him.  _ Especially _ when he was being cruel to him.

“Oh, fuck off! Yeah! Okay? Yeah! That was the stupid idea, b-but I guess maybe I did it a l-little too late.” 

“Yeah, you did. Three  _ years, _ Rick. Three years and you— _ you _ left  _ me. _ Not the other way around. Just fucking stopped it all like you didn’t want me anymore. Like it didn’t matter.” Morty started to cry, shutting his eyes to ward against the gathering tears.

“What do you  _ want,  _ Morty? You want me to be the possessive asshole Rick who doesn’t want you to have anything or anyone in your life besides me? So you can resent me and act out your little persecution complex? Is th-that what this is about?” 

“Yes!” 

“W-what?” Rick’s jaw dropped, genuine confusion written in his features. They regarded one another for a minute, opponents calculating the next move. Finally, Morty collected himself and spoke up.

“You remember what you said after the death crystals? About how it’s not a matter of living in the moment or too far ahead, how you have to do both? It’s the same with us. Sometimes I do need you to show you care. Like when you took such good care of me our first time or the night before I left, when you told me you loved me. But sometimes we both have to be the shittiest versions of ourselves too. I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and… we don’t work without it. It’s part of what makes us  _ us. _ It’s not a bad thing; it’s just how we are. And I needed you to make me stay. To tell me I wasn’t allowed to leave.” It was a twisted truth that would have sounded supremely fucked up to anyone else, but Morty knew Rick would understand.

“Jesus, i-it’s disturbing how stupidly fucking horny that makes me.” Rick gave him the faintest smile, and relief swelled within Morty. They both relaxed their combative stances, calming down a bit. 

“Look, Rick. Maybe you used to only want me around for my camouflaging brain waves or maybe not. Maybe when you sacrificed yourself for me when we broke time it was because you truly cared. I-I’m not sure... my brain’s a little fuzzy on the details. I think all these intersecting timelines fry a few brain cells, but the important thing is, no matter how it started... we’re a unit now. And yeah, maybe it’s a bit toxically codependent, and it’s  _ definitely _ frowned upon in more than a few cultures but—” 

“Wow, you’re really selling this, Morty. Should send you back to that Netflix pitch meeting. Y-you’re really on fire right now.” Rick rolled his eyes, and leaned his elbows on the bench.

“The  _ point _ is you’re mine, and I’m yours. Whatever way we got here and whatever degree of fucked up it is, it’s our mess and we both like it here. That’s all that matters. Isn’t that what you want?”

“Fuck, I don’t know what I want, Morty!” Rick waved his arms around helplessly. “I told you it all comes out in moron when your dick gets involved, and I guess that gets multiplied exponentially when idiotic grandson dick enters the equation. I felt really bad about it sometimes. I-I felt like a real piece of shit for fucking you and loving it.  _ Especially _ for loving it.” 

“S-sorry I made you feel that way.” The tears started to come back, and this time Morty didn’t suppress them in time. They cascaded down his cheeks, and he looked away from Rick.

Rick grabbed him by the shoulders, making Morty look at him. 

“No no, kid… come on. That’s not... god, see? This is the complicated shit I was trying to avoid. It’s not your fault, Morty. This is all on me.”

“Can’t we just… go somewhere and be  _ us?  _ Away from all this? I-if you’re worried about the stigma, there’s gotta be some places where—”

“Oh yeah, the incest planets are always the most evolved, Morty. You should definitely be taking your life lessons from them.”

“I don’t get it, Rick! You spent all this time trying to make my life revolve around you and now that it worked, you don’t want it? Do you just like being miserable, Rick?”

“How do you imagine this playing out, Morty? Because you’re not exactly known for thinking things through. In fact, you’re known for being a thoughtless fuck up who bumbles through life while I clean up his messes. Say we go away together. What happens when you resent me for it, when you realize what fucked up shit I got you into, and start blaming me?” 

“That won’t happen.” Morty shook his head vehemently.

“And what about when I die? Did you forget how much older I am than you?” Rick let go of Morty’s shoulders and started to pace around the garage. “I’m a stubborn piece of shit though so you’ll probably be caring for me when I’m 110. I won’t go down easy. I’m like a cockroach, Morty. I could survive a nuclear holocaust and rise up, b-become the king of a new civilization. That’s the kind of tenacity we’re talking about here. Or maybe I’ll go to a planet that cures aging, and it’ll be like that  _ Twilight Zone _ episode except instead of pulling a ‘Gift of the Magi,’ we’ll  _ both _ stay young and you’ll be stuck with me for eternity. What about that? What happens when 100 years forever and ever Rick and Morty is actually  _ forever?”  _

Rick stopped pacing and pointed a challenging finger at Morty. __

“Sounds perfect.” Morty gave him the calmest smile and laughed softly when that only made Rick more frustrated.

“Y-you could change your mind, Morty. You’re a f-fickle fuck at the best of times, and then what? You just show up here twenty years from now? Oh hey, I’m a-applying for jobs! Sorry about the gap in my resume, I was busy  _ fucking my grandpa _ in another dimension for a couple of decades. Is that cool with you? I don’t have any references except from this alien race I lived among that r-really,  _ really _ likes inbreeding.” 

“I don’t fucking care, Rick! Let’s just go. I want to.” Morty walked up to Rick, and grabbed his hands.

“Morty, I’m the same selfish asshole who puts you in d-danger all the time. That doesn’t change just because you’re my…” Rick gulped and looked down at their joined hands.

“Rick, I’ve lived with you like that for years now, and I’ve never left. What makes you think that would change now? The thing is... we’re already in a relationship. We have been a long time, even before the sex started. Just because you don’t call something by its name doesn’t mean it isn’t what it is. We already know we can do this because we’ve  _ been _ doing it.”

“And how do you know this is real? Why are you willing to h-hedge your bets on someone who’s only nice to you when it gets him what he wants?” Rick turned over one of Morty’s hands and rubbed his thumb across the thin skin of Morty’s wrist.

“That’s not true, Rick. You know it isn’t. You’re grasping at straws. You could have sex with anyone. You could get a new Morty. You could do whatever you want, but you haven’t. You would have moved on a long time ago if you didn’t feel something real.”

“How will you ever know I didn’t slowly coerce you into this?” Rick said it so quietly, his voice so full of genuine doubt, that Morty did the only thing he could.

Morty kissed him. 

“Really, Morty?” Rick said as they broke apart. “Enough with the fucking rom com tropes. I hate when they do this shit. It’s lazy writing. Asking for an answer to a pertinent question and getting a kiss to shut you up? It’s cliché. It’s tired. It’s—”

Morty kissed him again. 

“We’ll have problems. You’ll question this, you’ll be a totally insensitive dick and piss me off, but just... promise you won’t leave me? That’s all I need.” Morty looked up at Rick with pleading eyes, and Rick nodded.

“I won’t, Morty. I don’t think I could even if I tried. Christ! Listen to me!” Rick let go of Morty’s hands and smacked his own forehead. “Did someone sneak a-a rom com random dialogue generator chip in my brain? W-who’s writing this schlocky episode?”

“I-I really missed the fighting as foreplay, you know?” Morty ran a hand through his hair and gave Rick a shy smile.

Rick’s eyes darkened, and it made Morty’s heart race. Rick grabbed Morty by the collar of his sweater and roughly backed him into the workbench. 

“I told you no one else could touch you. I told you that you fucking belong to  _ me, _ and you let that skinny asshole fuck you, Morty. D-don’t think you’re getting out of this without answering for that.” Rick pulled Morty’s head back by the hair, and Morty moaned. 

_ Yes, finally. _

“I-I’m sorry, Rick.”

“A l-little fucking late for that, isn’t it, Morty? Take your clothes off.”

Morty nodded in a daze, and stripped, sitting back on the workbench when he was done. Rick undid his pants and pulled them down around his thighs but didn’t take anything else off.

“A-aren’t you going to…?”

“You don’t get the p-privilege of seeing my body, Morty. You don’t get to touch it unless I s-say so, either. You have to fucking  _ earn _ that. Do I have to tie you up or do you think you can muster the m-minimum self control to keep your greedy fucking hands to yourself?” Rick put a hand on Morty’s back and pressed their bodies together, grinding against him in a way that felt like a test. Morty leaned back on the heels of his hands, his arms shaking with the effort not to touch Rick. “You’re going to j-just stand there and let me fuck you. Turn around and bend over. Hands on the bench.”

“Y-yes, Rick,  _ please. _ I want it.” Morty got into position, practically salivating at the thought of Rick inside him. 

“This isn’t about what you want, M-Morty. Th-that’s the fucking point, you little brat,” Rick said as he slicked up his cock. He didn’t prep Morty. He didn’t give any warning. He just shoved inside, and Morty let out a yelp that was half pain, half excitement. 

“He doesn’t fuck you like this, does he? It doesn’t feel this good with him, does it?” Rick started fucking Morty at a relentless pace, everything on the bench shaking, some of it crashing to the floor. 

“Nooooo,” Morty moaned as Rick bit his shoulder. Rick grabbed his hips, holding Morty’s body in place with a bruising grip as he fucked him. 

“Do you think about me when he’s inside you? Do you wish it were me fucking you?” 

“Yes yes, god yes. Of course I do.”

“Good, Morty. I want you to be spoiled for everyone else. I want you to only want me. You were right. I’m still a possessive motherfucker, and I always will be, but you love it.”

Morty couldn’t nod, couldn’t speak. All he could do was let Rick fuck him until his legs were shaking.

“F-f-fuck, I missed this. You’re my good boy, Morty. E-even when you’re being a little shit, you’re my good boy, aren’t you?”

Finally hearing those words after months apart made Morty come so hard, his vision whited out and he collapsed on the workbench, falling into a blissed-out trance as Rick continued to fuck him, coming inside him with one final grunt. Rick fell on top of Morty, both of them gloriously spent and happy. 

A couple minutes later, Rick got up, and they shared a conspiratorial laugh as they got dressed. 

“Get over here.” Rick grabbed Morty by the belt loops and kissed him. “I’d s-say we filled out the dysfunctional family holiday bingo card, eh? F-fight at the dinner table, emotional repression spilling out, fucking in the garage while everyone’s—”

Rick’s mouth fell open in horror, and Morty followed suit as they both realized their mistake. Just then, the door opened. Beth gasped and clasped her hand to her mouth. They might have gotten dressed, but they were embracing in a way that clearly wasn’t platonic, and since they’d forgotten to soundproof the room… Morty guessed she’d already heard enough to piece it together.

Without thinking about it, Morty grabbed the portal gun from the pocket of Rick’s lab coat, clicked a few buttons, and pulled them both in. 

They both tumbled to the ground as they came out the other side.

“Fuck! Morty, where the hell did you take us?” Rick rubbed the back of his head as he stood up. “The spa where w-we got royally fucked by that toxicity machine? Really?!”

“I-I don’t know! I thought it would be a relaxing place to hide, toxicity machine notwithstanding.”

“You shouldn’t have taken us anywhere, Morty! Y-your mom saw us together! If she told Summer, it could be broadcast all over fucking Instagram or whatever by now. I’ll have t-to go around wiping memories all over the stupid planet.” Rick grabbed the portal gun from Morty. “J-just get us a room, and I’ll take care of this shit as usual.”

“Y-you don’t want me to come with you?”

“No… I think it’s b-better if I do this by myself.” Rick disappeared into a green portal, and Morty was left with a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.

  
  


***

  
  


Hours went by, and Morty lay in a fluffy bathrobe on the huge bed, unable to relax. What was taking Rick so long? 

When the door opened, Morty jolted into a sitting position, nervously biting his lip as Rick walked into the room.

“Did you… do what you needed to?”

“Yeah… she… hadn’t told anyone else yet so it was… it was fine.” Rick’s tone sounded the absolute opposite of fine, and as Rick sat down on the bed, Morty debated touching him, unsure if it was a good idea right now. “M-Morty… about that whole ‘I still love the ugly parts of you’ type shit you were saying uh… d-do you want me to tell when I… fuck…”

Rick rubbed his eyes and then took out his flask, taking a couple small sips.

“Tell me what, Rick?” Morty rested a reassuring hand on his thigh. 

“Say I have a thought that’s… not great. Do you want me to tell you about it? Even if I don’t act on it?”

“Um… gee, Rick… I guess that’s sort of up to you. I mean, yeah I want you to confide in me. I’m always here for anything you want to tell me. But I also don’t want you to feel like you  _ have _ to. It’s okay if there are things you don’t want to talk about.” Morty rubbed Rick’s leg, and Rick looked down at Morty’s hand with a smile.

“I thought about not coming back. About just leaving. I-I didn’t do it, obviously, and I  _ won’t _ do it. That promise wasn’t bullshit, b-but seeing your mom’s face before I got rid of the memories… i-it was hard, Morty. She said… she wasn’t surprised. I think she’d known for a while but didn’t want to admit it. But then I thought about everything you said, a-and I had to come back.” Rick brought Morty’s hand to his mouth and kissed the knuckles. “I want you to know this is the happiest I’ve ever been. No matter what happens, I want you to know that. Whatever happens, whatever dumb shit I say and do that makes you question why you made this decision just... never forget that I really do love you, okay? I’m really glad we’re doing this.” 

“I already knew that, Rick, but it’s nice to hear it.” Morty kissed him, and Rick reached inside Morty’s robe, sliding it off his shoulders and kissing his way down Morty’s chest.

“Fuck!” Rick lifted his head and grinned at Morty. “I-it’s just hitting me, Morty. We can do w-whatever the fuck we want. Nothing’s in our way anymore. It’s just you and me. N-nobody can take you away from me. We can go wherever we want, do whatever we want.”

“Yeah, we can.” Morty smiled at him, smoothing back Rick’s hair. “What do you want to do first?”

“Take turns fucking each other until neither of us can walk, and w-we have to call some room service lackey to hand feed us water.” 

“Mmmm,” Morty hummed, arching his back as Rick kissed down his stomach, licking a long, hot stripe up his cock.

“But first, I need your help getting these highly illegal crystals that are sort of like the deadlier cousins of the death crystals. Instead of showing you your own death, they’ll let you follow the deaths of everyone around you. People use them in warfare all the time, way better than that stupid reloading bonus of the death crystals, but I want them for something else. When they’re crushed into a powder and distilled into a solution mixed with uranium and—”

“Seriously, Rick?! Already?! Can’t we just—”

“I’m j-just fucking with you, baby. We’re not leaving this room until they kick us out for fucking too loud.” Rick stroked Morty’s cock and kept leaving tender bites on his thighs and hips. “L-let’s make this room so messy, they ban us from ever coming back. You’re not allowed to leave this bed unless I say so, Morty? Is that understood?”

“Anything you want, Rick. Anything,” Morty said with a dreamy smile, letting his eyes fall closed, his mind empty of everything except this moment. He knew he’d never regret this decision. He’d never been more sure of anything in his life. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part of me wishes I'd written outtakes of drunk sad Rick going on a bender after Morty left and also Rick punching the fuck out of Sebastian when he went back to erase Beth's memory because you KNOW he did that.


End file.
